Birthday Phone Call
by Unhobbity Hobbit
Summary: Jess overhears Sam calling Dean on his birthday. And then: Jess overhears Dean calling Sam on his birthday.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Yeah, I wrote it and then forgot to post it, how good am I? So it's more than a couple of days late.

Birthday Phone Call

Jess woke on the morning of her twentieth birthday to the sound of her boyfriend, Sam, on the phone in the other room. Now, Jess wouldn't usually consider herself a nosy person, but Sam had been quite conspicuously avoiding the subject of her birthday for some time now, so a semi-secretive phone call on the day itself? It was just begging to be listened in on. Anyway, it wasn't her fault the walls were paper thin, what was she going to do, hum over the noise?

"Yeah, everything's fine, just wanted to wish you happy birthday." Hang on, he was wishing someone happy birthday? Well, he wasn't leaving her a message on her phone because he was definitely getting answers from whoever was on the other end. Jess ran through a list of people who had birthdays on the same day as her, which was quick because there was no such list.

"Yes it is." Well, whoever it was, Sam knew them well. She could definitely hear the fondness in his voice.

"Dean, it's the twenty-fourth, believe me." Dean? His brother Dean? Perhaps she shouldn't listen in on the conversation, there might be a good reason Sam barely said anything about his family... Oh who was she kidding? She was far too curious and didn't have nearly enough self-control to stop listening now.

"Saturday." He had to tell his brother the day of the week? Well, that fitted with her theory that he was a bit of a drifter.

"You've got a calendar?" Sam sounded very surprised about that.

"What year is the calendar, Dean?" Whatever Dean said seemed to be exactly what Sam suspected and he laughed to himself, before emphatically exclaiming, "Yes!" Dean's reply caused Sam to sigh quite loudly.

"It's Sam," said Sam. He sounded like he'd said it a thousand times before, which Jess knew he had because he didn't like anyone calling him Sammy and that just encouraged people to call him Sammy. It had been going on longer than Jess had thought, then. She wondered if being called Sammy represented something to Sam that he didn't like.

"Whatever, Dean," and that was Dean's retort just brushed off by his, by the sound if it, long-suffering little brother. It was odd to think of Sam as 'little' in any sense of the word.

"You don't really want to know, do you?" Jess guessed that perhaps Dean had attempted to get up to date on Sam's life, which would probably take at least an hour if it was going to be done properly and it was too little too late as far as Jess was concerned. It was all very well for Dean to care when Sam phoned him to say happy birthday, but as far as Jess knew, Dean had never done anything to keep in contact.

"It's past eight!" and apparently Sam had been right, Dean hadn't really wanted to know, judging by the way the topic of conversation had changed. Was it really past eight? Jess glanced at the clock and it was. It felt much earlier.

"Hunting?" That wasn't a question of surprise, that was a question asked just to confirm Sam's suspicions.

"You get it?" Jess wondered vaguely what they were hunting. She didn't have a clue about hunting seasons and she wouldn't usually give it any more thought, except for the fact that Sam had said 'it' and not 'one' as though Dean would be going for a specific one of whatever it was he was hunting. Then again, perhaps she was just reading too much into his words.

"We? Is Dad there?" Jessica almost winced. Sam's dad was a volatile subject at the best of times. Jess had always had a burning curiosity about what Sam's dad could have possibly done to drive one son away so far, while keeping the other so close. She had theories, none of them were very sympathetic towards John Winchester.

"I didn't want to anyway, Dean, you remember what he-" Dean must have cut Sam off, which Jess had found was the most effective way of keeping him quiet. If Sam ever got enough momentum up he could keep going for days. Something Jess had learnt from experience and she had no doubts that Dean knew it too.

"Oh come on, you didn't even know it was your birthday till a minute ago!" and that was a volatile subject expertly dodged and perfectly diffused. Dean knew what he was doing.

"No, just wanted to say happy birthday." Sam's tone was light, Jess could almost see his smile as he spoke.

"You too, Dean, I mean it." The conversation was coming to a close so Jess threw off the covers, she hated staying in bed too long after she woke up.

"What?" Sam sounded honestly confused by whatever Dean had said. Dean explained and then Sam burst out with, "I was not getting all touchy-feely!" Jess had to cover her mouth to smother her giggling, Sam sounded so indignant.

"Dick, I was not." Again, Jess could imagine the fond smile gracing Sam's face, despite the words that would suggest otherwise.

"Yeah, ok." It sounded like the conversation was ending again so Jess carefully got up off the creaky bed.

"Bye, Dean." That was definitely the end of the conversation, but Jess waited a few seconds just in case Dean had come in with something else to say. He hadn't so Jess finally left the bedroom.

Sam was sitting near the door, staring at the phone in his hands. He looked up at Jess, smiling.

"Who was that?" she asked. Sam grinned at her.

"That would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?" he said. Sometimes it unnerved Jess just how easy Sam found it to lie.

The End. Kinda.

But here, have both sides of the conversation:

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Hey, Dean."

"Sam?"

"Yeah."

"Sam? What're you calling for? Everything ok?"

"Yeah, everything's fine, just wanted to wish you happy birthday."

"Happy birthday? Dude, it isn't my birthday."

"Yes it is."

"No way, it's the twenty-second today, I checked."

"Dean, it's the twenty-fourth, believe me."

"What's the day today?"

"Saturday."

"Yeah, I got a calendar here. Saturday, it's the twenty-second."

"You've got a calendar?"

"The motel's got a calendar, whatever. Dude, it's the twenty-second."

"What year is the calendar, Dean?"

"...Well shit. It's my birthday today?"

"Yes!"

"And you called? Sammy, that's sweet, I'm touched."

"It's Sam."

"It's my birthday, I can call you what I want."

"Whatever, Dean."

"So, uh, how are things?"

"You don't really want to know, do you?"

"I want to know every sordid detail, Sam. As long as it takes less than ten minutes to tell, why the hell did you call so early?"

"It's past eight!"

"Yeah, and I only got into bed at five. And this is the first bed I've had in a week."

"Hunting?"

"Yeah, dude, what else?"

"You get it?"

"Of course we did! You think we'd be back in civilisation if we didn't?"

"We? Is Dad there?"

"Yeah, you ain't talking to him though, he's out like a light."

"I didn't want to anyway, Dean, you remember what he-"

"Shit, Sammy, don't. Not on my birthday, all right?"

"Oh come on, you didn't even know it was your birthday till a minute ago!"

"Yeah well... you got anything else to say? 'Cause I'm going on three hours sleep here and there isn't any coffee around."

"No, just wanted to say happy birthday."

"Well, ok then. You... you take care, Sammy."

"You too, Dean, I mean it."

"Jesus Christ Sam, you haven't turned into one of those sissy college boys have you?"

"What?"

"You were totally getting all touchy-feely on me there."

"I was not getting all touchy-feely!"

"Bitch, you so were."

"Dick, I was not."

"Yeah anyway, I'd love to lie here all day throwing insults at you but-"

"Yeah, ok."

"Bye, Sammy."

"Bye, Dean."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Yeah, I'm late for Sam's birthday. What's he gonna do?

Checking In

The apartment was silent except for the occasional scribbling of pencils and the pretty much constant tapping of keyboards. There were also the odd annoyed sighs and pained groans, but apart from that, completely silent. Both Jess and Sam were working hard on their papers and revising for exams. They'd taken the night off earlier that week to celebrate Sam's birthday and were paying for it now. Their hangovers were long gone, but they were still keenly missing that extra day of work.

That isn't to say that Jess regretted taking the day off for Sam at all. She'd done her best to make sure Sam wouldn't regret it either and she thought that she'd probably succeeded on that front. Still, they were approaching six hours of solid working now and Jess would be lying if she said she wasn't secretly hoping for something to interrupt them.

Jess felt a little guilty about that, because Sam was pretty on edge and would probably snap anything (or anyone) that broke the silence in two. Sam worried far too much about school work for someone as clever as he was; he'd be able to get away with doing half the work he did. Still, he would be the Sam Jess loved if he slacked on his work. His dedicated attitude was just one of the many things about Sam that Jess found entrancing.

Jess jumped nearly a foot in the air when Sam's phone rang. Sam slammed his pencil down on the table and looked at the screen of his phone. Jess could tell that whoever it was was not going to get a friendly welcome, though Jess would be surprised if he even picked up. Sam looked up at Jess briefly and then stood, bringing the phone up to his ear.

"What do you want?" he said as he left the room, clearly not wanting Jess to hear the conversation. Jess wavered between continuing with her essay and eavesdropping on Sam, then she remembered that Sam had read her emails and ruined his own birthday surprise (seriously, who does that?) and that this was just the interruption she'd been hoping for. Plus, she wanted to know who was stupid enough to come between Sam and his studies. She tiptoed to the door that Sam had failed to close properly when he stormed out.

"You serious?" Oh yeah, Sam was pissed.

"You missed it, Dean, it was two days ago." Dean? Another phone call with Dean? And Dean had even been the one to do the actual calling, which was an improvement. He really didn't have the best timing, though.

"That's a real convenient excuse," Sam snorted. Jess couldn't blame him. His family hadn't done anything for his birthday and now they call? It was a valiant effort, but really, too little too late.

"Maybe you should try actually calling on my birthday." Sam obviously felt the same way as Jess.

"No, no I'm just a bit stressed. I've got papers and stuff due." Except that his voice softened and he seemed a little less tense. If Jess could see him, she was sure she'd see that his angry scowl was gone.

"I don't think so. Not unless you're suddenly an expert in law." Using her brilliant skills of deduction, Jess guessed that Dean had just offered to help with Sam's paper, which was laughable, really. If Sam couldn't do it, it wasn't likely that Dean would be able to. Unless Dean was just as much of a genius as Sam was, which was possible, but from what she'd heard of Dean, was unlikely. He couldn't remember his own brother's birthday.

"Harpies?" That had got to be the most abrupt subject change ever. Law degree to harpies in 2.4 seconds. Add to that the pure what-the-hell?-factor of someone mentioning harpies and it left Jess pretty confused. That was nothing new when it came to Sam's family, though.

"Really?" Sam at least seemed to understand what was going on, and if Jess wasn't mistaken, he sounded like he might just be smiling, which was actually impressive.

"Jesus, he okay?" There was worry in his voice now, which wasn't surprising considering that he must have just got news that someone had been hurt. Sam didn't hate his family, he just didn't talk about them. Or to them. Just because he didn't have anything to do with them, didn't mean he didn't love them. It was just complicated. Far too complicated for Jess to keep track of when she barely had any of the facts.

"Just as well he landed on his head, then." That was said jokingly and Jess wondered who this 'he' was. It wasn't Dean, so Jess' first guess was Sam's dad, but who knows how many other people there were from Sam's past that he didn't keep in touch with any more. It worried Jess sometimes – when she thought about it – that Sam seemed to have had this whole other life before Stanford and he wouldn't let anyone else in on it.

"You sure he's okay?" Jess could easily picture the concern on Sam's face, Sam did concern well, it suited him.

"Can't say I envy you looking after him." Jess was pretty sure that his dad must be the hurt one after hearing that. One of the few things that Jess knew about Sam's family was that Dean stuck by their father through everything. Whatever that 'everything' may be.

"Like what?" And then Sam was straight back into pissed. Sam could be like that. Unfortunately, it didn't look the conversation would end well from here. It would take some pretty skilful Sam-wrangling to rescue it.

"I'm doing okay." Sam's answer was clipped and short. This was the Sam she'd been living with for the past two days, the one that bit everyone's head off (ever hers a few times).

"Yes. I'm okay. What do you want to hear, Dean? That it's really awful here? That I really miss you and Dad? That I regret leaving? Because I don't." The silence following was somehow more tense than any other silence so far that day. Jess knew that Sam had overstepped some invisible mark by the way that she couldn't even hear his breathing. Sam sighed.

"Dean, I... Dean? Dean! Fuck."

"There something wrong?" said Jess, pushing open the door, belatedly realised that she'd just revealed exactly how close to the door she'd been standing. Seeing Sam sitting on the table looking like a kicked puppy made Jess concentrate on the important things in life, like Sam, and forget stupid things like getting caught eavesdropping, though. "Sam?"

"No," said Sam in a way that made it obvious there was something wrong. "I just, I said something stupid."

"He'll forgive you," said Jess, hoping that Dean would.

"Yeah, I know. I just wish it didn't have to be this way sometimes, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," said Jess, hugging Sam, wishing that she could make everything better for him. Sam deserved everything to be better.

The End.

Except: both sides of the conversation again! Woo!

"What do you want?"

"Happy birthday!"

"What?"

"Happy birthday!"

"You serious?"

"Uh, yes?"

"You missed it, Dean, it was two days ago."

"I know, but I didn't have any signal where I was."

"That's a real convenient excuse."

"Look, you called for my birthday, I was just trying to return the favour."

"Maybe you should try actually calling on my birthday."

"Christ, Sam, what crawled up your ass and died? You need me to come get it out?"

"No, no I'm just a bit stressed. I've got papers and stuff due."

"A _bit_ stressed? Dude, you haven't been that wound up since you... since... yeah. Any subjects I can help with?"

"I don't think so. Not unless you're suddenly an expert in law."

"I don't know, you might be doing something on ancient Greece. I could give you some info on harpies."

"Harpies?"

"Yes! Real, live harpies! Man, they were a complete bitch to kill; guns won't cut it , you have to use a sword or a spear. They're all flapping around your head screeching and yelling and shit and they're fast. I mean, like, bullet fast."

"Really?"

"Well, no, not quite _that_ fast, but pretty damn fast. A few of them got the drop on Dad, and I mean that literally. They picked him up by his jacket and dropped him."

"Jesus, he okay?"

"Yeah, he's got a thick skull, you know that."

"Just as well he landed on his head, then."

"Yeah... wait, hold on..._ what is it?... no, it's Sammy... looks like it... no, don't get up, I'll get it, Jesus... _Dad says happy birthday."

"You sure he's okay?"

"Bedridden, and you know how much he loves that."

"Can't say I envy you looking after him."

"Man, it's harder than killing harpies, I'm tellin' ya. Wait a minute... _what?..._ Okay, let's talk about something else before Dad kicks my ass for bitching."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, Sammy, maybe like how you're doing?"

"I'm doing okay."

"Okay? That's it? You go off for two years and you're just okay?"

"Yes. I'm okay. What do you want to hear, Dean? That it's really awful here? That I really miss you and Dad? That I regret leaving? Because I don't."

"No, man, I just... You know what? Never mind. I called to say happy birthday and I said it. Hope you get your papers in on time or whatever."

"Dean, I... Dean? Dean! Fuck."

The Real End.

Hope you enjoyed!


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